Leading Out

Tracy   Home: Sunderland, Ontario University: UOIT Subject Area: Math/Science, sponsored to stay long term

What Leading Out support and services have you enjoyed, or have assisted you, the most?

Before leaving Canada, I chose the “Comfort Melbourne” package. Moving to Australia was my first real experience living away from home, and I had no idea where to begin. Leading Out assisted me with becoming a certified Victorian teacher, getting insurance, booking flights, arranging accommodations, packing, and generally just answered all my questions! I felt well prepared to live in Melbourne before even getting on the plane in Toronto. When I arrived in Melbourne, Leading Out provided transportation to my flat, as well as information about public transit, and tourist attractions. They set up interviews for me with schools for contract positions, allowing me to focus on being a tourist and not having to worry about finding a job!

Leading Out has assisted me most with finding contract positions in Melbourne. Through the events and facebook page, I have been able to meet other Canadian teachers who are also part of the Leading Out Network. Leading Out has also just been a great resource while living in Australia, as you can basically send them an enquiry about anything and they will help find an answer.

The best place travelled within Australia:

The most beautiful place I have been in Australia thus far is the “Great Ocean Road”. The Great Ocean Road is just a short drive from Melbourne, and is basically just a long stretch of highway that runs right along the ocean. The view of the ocean and the coast is absolutely breath-taking! The Great Ocean Road offers many exciting things to see and do, including whale watching, visiting the 12 Apostles and other historic sites and national parks where you can see Kangaroos and Koala’s in the wild. There are also heaps of small towns along the way, my favourite being “Apollo Bay”, where I enjoyed banana ice cream for the first time!

Tips for International Teachers?

Teaching overseas is an amazing experience!! The only advice I can really give is to come with an open mind. Don’t limit your opportunities by setting timelines or making big plans before arriving. Just go with the flow, and see where the Australian sunshine leads you!!

What have you enjoyed most about teaching in Victoria?

Teaching in Victoria is very similar to teaching in Ontario. The curriculum is very similar, and the general lay-out of courses is the same. It is very easy to jump into a school and begin teaching, even in the middle of a semester! Being a science teacher, I was use to setting up all my labs by myself; however schools in Victoria have Science Lab Technicians that do all the lab preparation and clean-up for you. This is fantastic!

Since arriving in Melbourne, I have been lucky enough to be on contract. My favourite thing about teaching in Melbourne is the cultural lessons I receive from my students, and the cultural lessons I get to provide them.  Australian children of all ages have heaps of questions about Canada, so it is always enjoyable to meet a new group of students and see what kind of questions they can come up with! My Australian students have taught me so much about Australia, the biggest thing being proper Australian “Lingo”!

Erin   Home: Haliburton, Ontario University: Nipissing Subject Area: Primary, taught in a rural school in Australia

What Leading Out support and services have you enjoyed, or have assisted you, the most?

Leading out was very helpful in finding me a place to live. I also was very thankful for the bank set up, and the help with all the paper work that needs to be done.  Leading Out is always there to answer any questions you may have.  I felt like I had a security net the entire time.

I was in a rural community, and the most helpful was the fact that Leading Out was always in contact with my principal.  You never feel alone!

The best place travelled within Australia:

The best place I have traveled so far in Australia, would have to be Fraser Island.  My traveling partner and I went up the sunshine coast for our two week school holiday.  The Sunshine Coast is beautiful!  We ended it with a tour of Fraser Island.  It is the most beautiful and unique place I have ever seen!  It is a must!  We did the three days two nights tour. 

Tips for International Teachers?

It would be good to have some money saved up before you come, in case you don’t get work right away. I was very lucky to have full time work the moment I landed.  That meant I got paid while on vacation.  My experience from my own school, is that a lot of teachers don’t leave any instructions as they are not required too.  In my school board, it is mandatory to have your lessons prepared three days in advance so that if you are sick, there are plans.  That is not the case here in Australia.

Another tip, is take advantage of ALL school trips. I got to see most of Victoria for free! I volunteered for every school trip. I honestly think I was out of the classroom more than I was in.  I learned how to surf, went on rainforst hikes, sea kayaking, mountain climbing, the list goes on, all for free!  It is such a great way to get the true aussie experience and bond with the kids.

If you come in Mid August/Sept. bring warm clothes!  I froze my butt off for quite sometime!  I didn’t believe people when they said it would be cold.  Especially in Melbourne!

Get your VIT in ASAP!   I left mine really late, only because there were issues with police checks.  I had the ontario one done, but not the federal, so everything was delayed.  You can not teach in front of a classroom without it, and it takes a long time to process.  That is number one!  Also bring everything with you as far as documents go.

What have you enjoyed most about teaching in Victoria?

I actually didn’t end up working in Melbourne.  One week before I flew to Australia.  Leading Out contacted myself and my travel partner, to ask if we would mind working in a rural community.  Being from one back home, we were very keen.  We ended up in a little town 3 hours from Melbourne.  It was an amazing experience and I am so glad that I ended up there.  I was hired on full time to coach teachers on smart boards and to teach year nine science.  It was great to become part of a small community like that.  I highly recommend it!  It is really beneficial to have a car if you are going to live outside of the city.

I have not noticed too many differences.  The major difference I would say it the report card.  I was teaching year nine, which I have never done back in Canada, so that in itself was all new to me.  Secondary school reports are much different than elementary.  Other than that, I find kids are the same where ever you are.

Amanda and Rick Home: LaSalle, Ontario University: Windsor Subject Area: Maths

What Leading Out support and services have you enjoyed, or have assisted you, the most?

Obviously in the beginning I would have to say Leading Out sending out our Resumes and getting us a contact with the school. While we have been here it’s been great to receive the emails telling us about the events that are happening around us.

Before: We got the highest package which helped us when getting out resumes into the schools and setting up interviews. We both had phone interviews and jobs set up before we arrived in Melbourne. We had airport pick-up and were driven to our hotel which was very convenient. They also set up our bank accounts as well so we arrived and had access to money right away.

During: We are always getting emails from Leading Out talking about what things are going on. There was a day activity for rock climbing that we unfortunately couldn’t make it to but we did go to the great ocean road with a bunch of Leading Out teachers. We had an amazing time there. For halloween we are going to the Leading Out halloween party. Leading Out is constantly helping us to interact with the other Leading Out teachers and experience as much of Australia as we can.

The best place travelled within Australia:

Cairns. So hot and sunny everyday. Great for a holiday. The Great Ocean Road, which we did with a bunch of Leading Out teachers, was amazing to see too! Plus we got to see wild koalas!

Tips for International Teachers?

Bring as many resources as you can even though Australian’s are very willing to provide you with some. The main tip I would give though is to come with an open mind when it comes to school outside of the curriculum (daily schedules, laid back behavior, etc.)

What have you enjoyed most about teaching in Victoria?

I came to Melbourne planning to do CRT work for the first 7 weeks than doing contract during 4th term. However, the first day CRTing I was offered a contract position for the last two terms of the year. The only catch was that I would be teaching out of my specialty. My teachables are Math and Individual and Society (which translates to SOSE/Geography/History here). However, I ended up teaching English for 4 classes, and History for my other. EEK! I am however, enjoying the experience of getting to teach out of my specialty. It was tough at first but now I’m learning to actually enjoy it and I will feel even more prepared and experienced when I go back to Canada.

There are many similarities and differences between teaching in Victoria and Canada and it is nice to experience their different world. Like Canada, the teaching staff is very nice and always very helpful. Australians and Canadians, both in and out of the school, are very similar when it comes to social interactions between students and their peers, as well as students and their teachers. The curriculum here also contains the same sort of material as the curriculum in Canada. As for differences, one main one is the way teachers and administration approach their classes. Things are a lot more laid back here and school seems to be a lot less stressful for students. Also, students only have to complete up to year 10 here so sometimes the motivation for students to excel may not be there if they feel they will be leaving high school at 16. I also want to mention that their school schedules are different here. Rather than having the same schedule everyday for half a year, every day of the week is different so you may only see a certain class 3 days a week.. but for 5 periods total. It’s good because your days don’t seem so repetitive but it’s bad because there are days when you are teaching 6 periods, but at most 4 different subjects. One more difference is that the yr 7’s and 8’s are in highschool here so if you enjoy teaching those year levels, you can … and you get the same pay!!

Click here for 2009 Testimonials from Canadian, American, Swedish and UK teachers in Australia.

Click here for 2008 Testimonials from Canadian, American and UK teachers in Australia.